Paul Weller - 66
Remarkably, the three years between Paul Weller’s last record (Fat Pop Vol.1) and this seventeenth solo outing is one of the longest breaks the iconic musician has taken between studio albums.
Of course, being Paul Weller in that time he has released a B-sides compilation, some one-off singles and toured both that and the previous album On Sunset (released in mid-2020), more than most other acts of the same generation can muster in their busiest periods.
Yet in promotional interviews, Weller has indicated that it may be time to start slowing down, a suggestion that the title of this record (his age at the time of release) and some of the lyrics included seem to corroborate.
Of course, ‘slowing down’ is relative, so we can probably expect his eighteenth album by Christmas 2025, but there is an undeniably reflective tone to 66, even if Weller has outsourced much of his lyric writing.